Your Guide to the Best Portable Internet Options

If you spend any significant amount of time traveling, you know the irritation of trying to get and stay connected. It used to be okay—even beneficial. But these days, connectivity is necessary for so much of our day-to-day lives that going a week, or even a few days, without it can be a problem.

Many of us have taken to using our phones as portable hotspots. While this can work in a pinch, there are a few problems with the approach:

• You don’t always have cell reception available when you need it.
• If you do, it can be far too slow to be usable.
• Many cell service providers limit the data you can use on a standard plan and charge extra if you exceed the limit.

Whether you’re heading out on a weekend camping trip, spending more time on your boat, or traveling the country in an RV, finding reliable internet access is important but difficult. Fortunately, you have a few options.

Wi-Fi hotspots, unlimited mobile data plans, and—of course—satellite internet are all solid ways to help alleviate your portable internet issues and keep you connected.

Depending on the type of portable Wi-Fi you want, the cost can range anywhere from around $30 per month to $150 per month or more.

In addition, you need equipment like satellite dishes, hotspot devices, or wireless routers. The costs vary widely—an unlimited hotspot plan for your phone doesn’t require any additional gear (beyond the phone, of course), while a Starlink setup for an RV costs between $600 and $2,500.

In other words, it depends a lot on your needs, which we’ll get into in more detail below.

RVs present an interesting situation for internet. You may want access in remote locations, but you also need access while moving, which requires specific equipment. Wi-Fi and mobile hotspots work well while moving, but coverage in remote areas can be spotty. On the other hand, satellite is ideal for use in remote locations but requires specialized (and expensive) equipment to get a signal on the go.

For this reason, we have a few different recommendations for RV owners to consider:

• If you take your RV into rural or remote places and need internet access there, Starlink Roam is the way to go. You can opt for a standard setup with portable gear that’s fairly reasonably priced, or—if you think you want access on the move—you can jump up to the in-motion hardware package for the ultimate RV internet experience.
• If you’re mostly using the internet in areas with decent cell coverage, we recommend either Nomad Internet (for a standalone Wi-Fi hotspot) or Mint Mobile (if you want to use your phone as the hotspot). Both get you speedy wireless internet access with unlimited data, so you can stream to your heart’s content. Best of all, both work while the RV is moving, without dishing out thousands of dollars for special antennas.

Boating takes all the challenges of RVs and kicks them up a couple notches. Unless you’re sitting in port for an extended period of time, your boat is rarely stationary. If you go out far at all, you almost certainly lose your cell coverage. Lastly, smaller boats may not have a convenient spot to mount a satellite dish, further limiting your options.

As such, the best option for your boat depends a lot on how you use it. If your yacht or other large vessel has space for satellite dishes, you can opt for the exorbitantly expensive Starlink Maritime satellite internet for boats. This gets you the best boating internet experience currently available. It also costs $5,000 per month, plus another $10,000 up front for hardware.

For the rest of us, a portable hotspot is the way to go. Nomad is a solid choice if you spend enough time on the water to justify a separate device. If you just need the hotspot occasionally, a mobile hotspot plan should be plenty—we like Mint Mobile.

Truckers that spend a lot of time on the road need internet that’s fast and reliable, but it also needs to be able to work in rural areas and truck stops out in the middle of nowhere. However, satellite isn’t necessarily practical—carting a dish and providing power to a modem are inconvenient at best and impossible at worst.

For that reason, a Wi-Fi hotspot is almost certainly the best internet option for truckers. The catch is finding one that works well outside of urban areas. Verizon is a good bet here—it’s known for coverage in spots other providers might not reach. T-Mobile is improving as it rolls out nationwide 5G, but it’s still not quite there in our opinion.

With camping, the challenges are mainly about getting consistent access—many prime camp spots, like national parks, are in cellular dead zones with little to no service. For that reason, it’s hard to nail down a single best camping option.

Generally, we recommend a mobile hotspot simply for portability. Portable satellite dishes and routers can be a pain to lug around. On the other hand, satellite will likely get better reception, so it’s definitely a tradeoff.

A Verizon hotspot and accompanying plan are likely to be the best option for campers. Verizon tends to have excellent coverage in areas that T-Mobile doesn't, and this may include some campgrounds and backcountry areas where you might be hiking or camping.

Yes! Portable internet is very possible. Thanks to advances in cellular and satellite technology, you can get surprisingly great performance for a reasonable price.

That said, there are some caveats: satellite internet is generally slower and more expensive than cable or fiber service, and cellular internet requires coverage from nearby towers, so you may not be able to take it everywhere you go. However, we’re a lot closer to that reality than we were a few years ago.

Most portable Wi-Fi is based on cellular networks—the same type of signal used by your phone. The signal is picked up either by your phone itself or a portable hotspot (essentially a modem for cell signals) and then broadcast as a Wi-Fi signal. At that point, your devices won’t see any difference between the portable network and your home Wi-Fi connection.

No—portable Wi-Fi requires a solid connection to a mobile network to function. If you pass through a dead zone or otherwise lose that connection, you’ll lose the Wi-Fi.

That depends entirely on your power source. If you’re able to plug into an outlet, your phone or hotspot can continue broadcasting the Wi-Fi network indefinitely—or, at least, as long as your data plan allows. If you’re on battery power, you’ll be more limited. Hotspots can last up to 10 hours, but your phone’s battery may die long before then.

In most cases, a portable hotspot from a cell provider like Mint Mobile or Verizon will be the best option. This gives you access to fast internet on the go, without burning through your phone’s battery.

If phone battery life isn’t a concern, a hotspot add-on plan from your cell provider might be more convenient, since you won’t have to worry about carting around an extra device. Finally, users who need portable internet in remote places will probably get more mileage out of a satellite internet plan from a provider like Starlink.

Pocket Wi-Fi is basically just a fancy term for a small mobile hotspot. The idea is that it could fit in your pocket—get it? This could apply to a dongle, a small hotspot device, or even your smartphone.

These are really two different things—prepaid Wi-Fi refers to a type of internet plan where you pay for the month ahead, rather than paying for what you used the previous month. Pocket Wi-Fi, on the other hand, refers to a type of wireless hotspot device. Technically, you could have a prepaid plan for your pocket Wi-Fi device.

The phrase “mobile internet” usually refers to internet access gained using a cellular network, like what you have on your smartphone. These days, this means 4G LTE or 5G. Other types of internet can be “mobile”—satellite, for example, can be accessed on the go with in-motion antennas. However, this is obviously much more difficult to take with you than cellular networks.

It can be—it largely depends on what type of mobile internet you have access to. Mobile networks have gotten a lot faster in recent years as 5G coverage rolls out around the country, but there are still spots where you can’t get a decent signal.

Wi-Fi can provide a more stable signal, but whether it’s faster depends on the speed of the internet plan it’s pulling from—some DSL and satellite plans may well be slower than LTE or 5G mobile internet.

Many, if not most, Airbnb rentals will have Wi-Fi access. Ultimately, it’s up to the hosts of the Airbnb whether they want to offer it or not—often, the listing will highlight if they do.

That said, using these networks could pose a security risk—the host has the password as well, and could therefore see the activity on the network. For this reason, bringing your own hotspot could be a good idea.

Yes, with the right plan. In fact, many mobile providers are now offering home internet packages that use 4G LTE or 5G data.

The speeds are often more than fast enough—the main consideration is data usage. If you use your home network heavily, such as for frequent video streaming, you may want to opt for an unlimited plan.

Many cell phone providers now offer home internet, including Verizon and T-Mobile. This is essentially a hotspot for your home, feeding high-speed 4G LTE or 5G data to your devices. The prices are often quite reasonable, too. For example, T-Mobile’s plans start at just $30 per month.

Essentially, nothing—mobile data and Wi-Fi work more or less the same. You may see a speed difference if you’re in an area without high-speed mobile data coverage. The main thing to watch for is accidentally using up a limited mobile data plan—Wi-Fi won’t count towards that limit.